Starling

Starling birds are often kept as home scenery. They sing beautifully and are friendly to humans. This species is easy to care for at home.

Sturnidae

Starling is a favorite bird and is popular today as a pet. In this article, WikiPET shares with you how to raise and care for Starling birds.

1. About starlings

1.2 Describe

Starlings are medium in size, the figure is quite long and slim. Adult starlings have an average size of 15-30cm, weighing about 100g. The Starling’s head is very small and flattened, the beak is pointed, straight, long and hard.

The color of the bird’s eyes is not the same and is determined by the color of the feathers. Bird feathers consist of 3 main colors: White, black and brown.

The body of the starling blooms, the chest expands. Their eyes are large, round and bordered with gold all around.

1.2 Disposition

Starlings when living in the natural environment often live in flocks in large numbers. In particular, when there are enemies invading them, they often gather in large numbers.

In captivity the Starling is very aggressive and capable of imitating standard human sounds. If you keep perennial Starlings in the house. They can talk to you. With very good imitation. So starlings are preferred for ornamental farming.

1.3 Bear

Starlings usually breed in early spring to late summer. After pairing starlings usually nest in caves or hollows of trees to lay eggs.

Each breeding of the female usually lays about 2-3 eggs of blue color. After 14-16 days the eggs will hatch and be incubated by both male and female birds.

Newly hatched baby starlings have very few feathers or no feathers, light brown and have not yet opened their eyes. After being raised, they will fly away and feed with the herd. Adult starlings will change their feathers for the first time in winter.

1.4 Types of starlings

In the world there are about 30 species of Starlings, each of which will have its own characteristics. Here are the most popular types of starlings today:

+ Yellow-billed Blue Starling

They are also known as Rooster Flutes originating from the region of Western Asia. This breed of birds has the following characteristics:

  • The size is quite large, for adult birds 20-25cm long.
  • The average weight is from 55 to 100g. Males are larger in size than female birds.
  • They have strong legs and have a light pinkish-red color. The beak of the male bird is blue, the female bird is yellow. The feathers are blue with white star spots. Spots of male birds are thicker than female birds.
Yellow-billed Blue Starling

+ Black starling

They have an oblong body, a pointed and hard beak. Black starling feathers on the top of the head resemble crests. Their beaks and legs are golden and silky black.

Black starling

+ Brown starling

The body of the Brown Starling is balanced between the person and the head. The neck, tail and head of the Brown Starling are glossy black. The bird’s chest is gray-brown, the wing feathers, back and chest are light brown.

Brown starlings with Wing feather margins are white or black. The eyes of the Starling are round, around the border of the eyes are light yellow, the lumen of the eyes is red. The legs and beak of birds are yellow-orange or bright yellow.

Brown Starling

2. How to breed starlings

How to breed starlings requires a lot of time and care. Therefore, to have a starling bird that is both beautiful and singing or intelligent, requires you to know the experience when caring for birds.

2.1 How to choose a starling

  • You should choose birds with a large, nimble, strong body, bright eyes, a large head and a tall standing figure.
  • It is recommended to choose birds with strong legs, shiny feathers and legs that are not exfoliated.
  • Buy starlings that sing a lot, have a high and strong voice.
  • Choose to buy fast, nimble starlings and dance regularly.
  • It is not recommended to buy birds Starling moody and quiet.

2.2 Cages

You should choose a starling cage depending on the size of the bird and conditions. From there you can choose for yourself the right type of cage. It is recommended to choose cages of bamboo, metal, wood or rattan. The most beautiful are the rattan feathers. The cage needs to be 50-60cm in size, 80-90cm high so that the bird has a comfortable space to fly and jump.

In addition, you should also pay attention to choose a cage with a full range of tools including: Bean plants, feed frostbite, water frostbite and manure barrier.

Note:

  • When raising starlings, you should also prepare more cage hoods to help birds gradually get used to the new habitat and not panic.
  • The location of hanging birds should choose a cool place, in summer should hang birds in addition to the shade and in winter hang indoors for warm birds.

2.3 The diet of starlings

Are you wondering what starlings eat? Starling is omnivorous, when living in the natural environment birds eat many different types such as: Berries, ripe fruit seeds, insects including: Locusts, locusts, rice worms, pupae, spiders, butterflies, dragonflies …

The food of starlings in captivity is mainly bran. Besides, you should also add fresh food for birds such as pupae, bird worms, locusts to help birds stay strong and stretched.

Along with ripe fruits such as dragon fruit, papaya, banana and tomato.

Besides, Starling also loves nuts such as peanuts, millet. It is possible to add vitamins, fiber, minerals that help birds grow well. …

2.4 Caring for starlings at home

When raising starlings, you also need to pay attention to providing adequate food and water for the birds.

You need to clean the bird cage regularly. Clean the glass of water. Remove the stool barrier to avoid pathogenic bacteria.

Besides, you also need to bathe birds 2-3 times a week in the summer. Bath time is from 10 – 12 noon.

In addition, you also need to sunbathe the birds from 7 to 9 am, bathe about 20-30 minutes a day. At that time, it will help birds with smooth feathers, sing well and develop well.

2.5 Disease prevention

When you keep Starlings at home, they often suffer from diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea, hair loss, fibrosis … So you need to detect it early to have an effective treatment.

To avoid birds from contracting the above diseases you need to make sure to feed the birds with fresh food, clean water, bathe, clean the cage regularly.

3. Training of human-speaking starlings

Starlings are a special type of bird. Similar to parrots, they can also learn to speak human language. In order for starlings to speak quickly, you can “pocket” the following experiences:

  • You should keep starlings from an early age and should keep them in cages for a while and then teach them to speak later. When the starling is familiar with the owner, teach the bird to speak.
  • The best time for you to teach starlings is between 17 and 6 p.m. It is recommended to teach birds to speak early in the morning and when they first wake up.
  • In the beginning, you should guide the birds to say simple sentences such as: Goodbye, hello, guests … When birds are pure you will teach birds to learn more difficult sentences.
  • A little trick shared by many starling practitioners. You should place the bird cage where the door has many people helping the bird to talk more.

4. FAQ

How to distinguish male and female starlings?

You can distinguish the sex of baby starlings by the color of their feathers . Male birds have glossy black feathers, while females are ash-gray, light black. When growing female feathers have black feathers but are not as smooth as male birds.
As they mature, the Drum Starling has a vocal and high-pitched voice. The female has a hoarse and low song. In terms of the shape of an adult starling, the adult starling has a flat anus and the empty bird is a cylindrical hard mass that emerges.

What is starling’s food?

The starling’s main food is vermin (green worms, rice worms, locusts, grasshoppers …), fruits and millet. Since you are not a picky eater, you can also buy dried foods at pet stores.

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